Refrigerator-car-door operating and locking means



y 1929- J. F. OCONNOR REFRIGERATOR GAR DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING IEANSFiled April 2'7. 1928 Patented July 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES JOHN F. OCONNOR, OI" CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO W. H.MINER, INC., 01

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

REFRIGERATOR-CAR-DOOR- OPERATING AND LOCKING MEANS.

Application filed April 27,

This invention relates to improvements in refrigerator car dooroperating and locking 11 cans.

Certain types of refrigerator cars, especially milk cars, are usuallyequipped with single doors made up of two hinged doors each, which whenforced closed have a tog gle action and are jammed tightly within theframe of the door opening. It will be appreciated that considerableforce is required to close this type of door and also to break thetoggle joint in opening the same.

The main object of my invention is to provide simple and etlicientoperating means for doors of the type referred to, by which a powerfulleverage may be exerted to force the same closed and also to break thetogglc joint in opening the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide an operating mechanism forrefrigerator car doors composed of hinged sections, including rotaryoperating means co-op'erating with the door sections, either to breakthe sections at their hinged connectlon to force the door open or tostraighten out said hinged connection to force the door tightly closedand jam it into the opening of the door frame.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide operating meansfor a refrigerator car door hinged at one side on the'door frame andcomposed of two sections which are hinged together, which whenstraightened out snugly fit the door opening, where in the operatingmeans comprises a swinging lever actuated mechanism, including rotarytrunnion-like cam acting elements which are disposed angularly withrespect to each other and turn in bearing members mounted on the doorSections at opposite sides of the hinged connection between saidsections.

Other and further objects of the invention will more clearly appear fromthe de scription and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing, forming apart of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of a portion of a wall of a refrigerator car, showingthe door and illustrating my improvements in connection therewith.Figure 2 is a horizontal, sectional i" av, corres'jonding sat wiiitially to tl" are 2=-=2 ofv .ifiigure 1, this figure also the dooringbracket member 1928. Serial No. 273,199.

sections in dotted lines in partly open position. Figure 3 is avertical, sectional view of the central portion of one of the doorsections, showing the operating means in connection therewithcorresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Figure 1. And Figure 4 isa vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 44 ofFigure 1.

In said drawings, indicates the side wall of a refrigerator car providedwith a. door opening 11 to which the door member proper is hinged. Thedoor proper is com posed of sections 12 and 13, which are hingedtogether adjacent their inner edges by hinge members 1et1 l. Four hingemembers 14 are shown in the present disclosure. The door propercomprising the hinged sections 12 and 13 is swingingly mounted on thedoor frame, being supported by hinge means 15. The hinge means 15comprises two heavy sections extending for the height of the door andprovided with a plurality of co-operating hinge ear members 16-16 whichreceive the usual hinge pin or bar.

The hinge member 15 is disposed on the inner side of the car wall, sothat the entire door comprising the sections 12 and 13 will be swunginwardly of the car when opened, and folded against the inner side ofthe wall. The hinge members 14, as shown, are disposed on the outer sideof the door sections 12 and 13, thus hinging these sections together toswing in a direction reverse to the swinging movement of the door.

In carrying out my invention, I provide the improved operating mechanismcomprising, broadly, an operating lever member A having two trunnionmembers BB and two bearing members CC co-operating with the t-runnionsand mounted on the respective door sections 12 and 13.

The bearing members CC are of the same design and each comprises asupport- 17 fixed to the corresponding door section adjacent the hingeconnection thereof with the other door section. The supporting bracketis in the form of a U- shaped strap provided with top and bottom flangesections which are secured to the outer side of the door section by ansuitable means, such as bolts 18-1S. Tie central base: plate 19 ofdisc-like form operates "with t Unitad bracket tee-paw 7 usual seal,receiving opening 29,

front wall is curved as shown present curved bearing surfaces as shownin Figures 1 and 1, and the connecting members also cut away interiorlyat opposite sides above and below the center to providei or theswiveling movement of the bearing member proper. The bearing memberproper, which is indicated by 21, is in the form of ablock havingtrunnion members 2222 at the frontand rear sides thereof, which areswiveled in the openings 20. The rear wall of the bearingbloclc 21 isflat and bears on the plate 19. The top and bottom wall sections of saidbearing are substantially straight, as indicated in Figural, and the lin Figures 3 and 1. As will be evident, the bearing 21 is thus mountedfor vertical swinging movement to a limited extent in the bracket 17.Each bearing member 21. is provided with a cylindrical bearing opening23 which is disposed at. an inclination to the correspmiding doorsection, in the normal position of the parts, as clearly shown in Figure2.

The operating lever A is in the forin o'l an elongated bar having anoperating handle grip 2-l at the outer end thereof. opposite end, thelever member A is provided witht-ruimions l3-B. As shown, the trunnionmembers 13 are so arranged that they project on opposite sides of theleverand engage with the corresponding bearing members (1. .lnorder toprovide for movement of the door sections 12 and 1.3, with respect toeach other when the operating lever is moved, the trunnion members B arearranged angularly with respect to each other, as clearly shown inFigure 2.

Adjacent the handle end, the operating lever A is enlarged, as indicatedat- 25, the enlarged section being provided with an opening 26. \Vhenthe door is closed, the

handle portion of the operating lever A may be sealed in the usualmanner, a bracket 27 having'an upstanding portion 28 which extendsthrough the opening 26 of the lever A being employed for this purpose.The upstanding portion 28 is provided with the 7 shown in Figure 3,disposed outwardly of the lever A when in its vertical position, adaptedto receive the car seal proper.

As shown, the door section 12 is provided with the usual packing meansat the free edge "thereof, the edge of the door being rounded andco-operating with a rounded vertical pocketBO on the corresponding doorframe member.

The doorseetion 12 is also pr 'ided with a grab handle 31, whereby thesame may be At the operator in manipulating the lever positioned whilethe lever A is manipulated. The operation of my improved door operatingand locking means as follows:

Assuming that the door is in the closed position illustrated in Figures1 and 2, and the door is opened by breaking the hinged connectionbetween the two sections 12 and 13. In this connection, it is pointedout that the arrangement of the hinged connection produces a toggleell'ect in the closing of the door, thereby jamming the door sectionstightly into the door opening. In opening the door, the enormous forceexerted by this toggle arrangement must be overcome. The operating leverA is swung upwardly from the position shown in Figures 1 and 3, therebyturning the trunnions B in the hearing members C. Due to the angulararrangement of thetrunnions, the door sections 12 and 13 will be forcedto swing relatively to each other during the swinging movement oi thelever A, referred to. As will be evident during the first portion of theoperation described, the lever A is pulled outwardly away from the dooruntil it reaches a substantially horizontal position, and is then swungtoward the door until it assumes a substantially vertical position. Aswill be evident, the last-portion of the swinging movementof the leverbeing toward the door, the force exerted by the also aids in theswinging movement of the door proper on the hingod'sections 15.' Whenthe operating lever A assumes the vertical position referred to, thedoor sections 12 and 13 will be inthe dotted line position shown inFigure 2 and are, as shown, drawn entirely clear of the pocket 30 or thedoor frame member. lVhen the parts have assumed the dotted line positionshown in Fig- :ure 2, the lever A as swung in a reverse direction away"from the door and downwardly toward the door, while the door section'12 is held by the operator by grippii'ig the hand hold 31,'therebyrotating the trannion members 13 to the original position with respectto the door sections 12 and 13, bringing the latter into alignment. Thedoor comprising the sections 12 and 13 is then swung inwardly againstthe inner side or the wall of the car.

hen it is desireu to close the door, the same is swung from its positionon the inner side of the wall to partly closed position. The operatinglever is then swung outwardly and upwardly and toward the door to swingthe two sections 12and 125, with respect to each other, while the doorsection 1.2 is held by the operator, until they assume the angularposition indicatedby dotted lines in Figure 2; The door is then adjustedon the hinge 15 so as to assume approximately the dotted line positionshown in Figure 2. "he

operating lever is then mani iulated to lot) straighten out the sections12 and 15 and bring the same in alignment by swinging the leverdownwardly away from the door and then inwardly toward the door, whileat the same time guiding the door section 12 by the haml hold 31. Thismovement of the lever will effect rotation of the trunnions B-B in sucha manner as to bring the sections 12 and 13 of the door into alignn'lentand force the door tightly into the door opening, seating the edge ofthe section 12 in the pocket of the frame member of the door opening. Inforcing the door closed during the last part of the swinging movement ofthe lever A, that is, when it is being forced toward the door, the edgeof the door 12 will have entered the pocket 30 of the frame member andthe door will thus be held against inward movement.

Inasmuch as tl e door section 13 is hinged at one edge and the remoteportion of the door section 12 is in engagement with the pocket 30 ofthe door frame member, the door sections in the final closing movementthereof will have a toggle action which tightly jams the door into thedoor opening,

'thus compressing the sealing material at the door edge.

\Vhile I have herein shown and described what I consider the preferredmanner of carrying out my invent-ion, the same is merely illustrativeand I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In an operating mechanism for a refrigerator car door hinged at oneedge to a door frame and COIIIPOSQtl of two hinged sections, thecmnbination with an operating lever swingingly supported on said hingedsections and having means thereon for moving said sections relatively toeach other, to align said sections when the lever is swung in onedirection to force the door tightly closed, and to swing said sectionsout of alignment to force the door open.

2. In a refrigerator car construction, the combination with a door framemember having a door opening; of a door hinged to said frame for closingsaid opening, said door comprising two hinged sections; means for movingsaid door sections with respect to each other, said means including anoperating member having connection with both door sections, saidoperating member, when actuated in one direction, bringing said doorsections in alignment when the door is partly closed, to am said doorinto said door opening, and, when operated in the reverse direction,swinging said door sections out of alignment to break the hinge jointand force the door partly open.

3. In an operating mechanism for a refrigerator car door hinged at oneedge to a door frameto swing in one direction to tions, the combinationwith opened position, said door comprising two sections hinged to beswung in a reverse direction to said swinging movement of the door, tomove said sections out of alignment, the combination with an operatinglever provided with actuating means at opposite sides thereof, anchoredto the respective door s ctions to effect relative swinging movement ofthe door sections to bring said sections in alignment when the lever isswung in one direction to force the door closed and to swing saidsections out of alignment with each other to force said door partlyopen.

-,t.' In an operating mechanism for a refrigerator car door hinged atone edge to the door frame and composed of two hinged seean operatinglever provided with angularly disposed actuating portions, separatebearing members on said door sections in which the said actuatingportions engage, to swingingly support said lever, where-by when saidlever is swung in one direction the sections of the door are broughtinto alignment to force the door closed and when said lever is swung inthe reverse direction the door sections are swung angularly to eachother to force the door open.

In a refrigerator car I)IO"ltl8(l with a door opening in the wallthereof and a door member for closing said opening, the door memberbeing hinged at one edge and composed of two hinged sections, thecombination with a swinging operating lever movable away from and towardsaid door, said operating lever having door actuating portions anchoredto the respective door sectiops, said actuating portions swinginglysupporting the lever on the door, said actuating portions swinging thedoor sections out of alignment to force the door open when the operatinglever is swung in one direction away from and then toward the door, andsaid actuating portions swinging the door sections into aligned relationto force the door closed when the operating lever is swung in a reversedirection away from and then toward the door.

6. In a refrigerator car provided with a door opening in the wallthereof and a door member hinged at one edge for closing said door, thedoor being composed of two hinged sections, the combination with anoperating lever having oppositely projecting trunnions at one endthereof; of a bearing support on each door section, each co-operatingwith one of said trunnions, whereby when said lever is swung in onedirection the door sections are brought into aligned relation to forcethe door closed, and when the lever is swung in the reverse directionthe door sections are swung out of alignment to force the door open.

7. In a refrigerator car provided with a. door opening in the wallthereof andv a door member hinged at one edge for closing said opening,the door being composed of two hinged sections, the combination with anoperating lever having oppositely projecting trunnions at one endthereof, said trunnions being angularly disposed with respect to eachother; of a bearing support on each door section, provided with aswiveled bearin g member, each bearing member co-operating with one ofsaid trunnions, whereby when said lever is swung in one direction thedoor sections are brought into aligned relation to force the door closedand when swung in the reverse direction the door sectionsare swung outof alignment to force the door open.

8. In a refrigerator car provided with a door opening in the wallthereof, and a door member hinged at one edge for closing said opening,the door being composed of two hinged sections, the combination with anop erating lever having projections at one end thereof, angularlydisposed with reference to each other; of separate anchoring means oneach door sect-ion, disposed on opposite sides of the hinged connectionof said sections for swingingly supporting said operating lever by saidprojections, said projections operating upon swinging movement of thelever in one direction to swing the door sections angularly to eachother to force the door open, and upon swinging movement of theoperating lever in the reverse direction to swing the door sections intoaligned relation to force the door closed.

9. In an operatingmechanism for a door composed of two hinged sections,the combination with. a bearing member swiveled to each door section; ofan operating lever provided with oppositely projecting trunnions at oneend thereof, said trunnions being angularly disposed with reference toeach other and journaled in said bearing members respectively.

10. In an operating mechanism for a door composed of two sections hingedtogether at their adjacent edges, the combination with a bearing memberswiveled to each section, said bearing members being disposed onopposite sides of the hinged connection between said dooropenings, eachbearing member having a trunnion receiving portion disposed at an angleto the corresponding door .section; of an operating member swinginglysupported on said door, the operating member being provided withtrunnion members at one end on opposite sides thereof, angularlydisposed with. respect to each other and journaled in said bearingmembers respectively.

In witness that I claim the foregoing'I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 25th day of April, 1928.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

